“Now & Zen”

Producer: Jensen Fly Fishing

“This video has two pretty serious fish fights. These two fish were hooked and fought 8 years apart from the same bush on the same bend, both in February – one in 2012 and the other in 2020. If you choose to fly fish small streams, you choose to do what it takes – you’re all in, whatever that means. There’s a point with big fish in tight water where the fight comes to a stand-still. Sometimes it’s in an accessible undercut, other times that fish buries itself into cover and comes to rest. The choice we have as anglers is to break the fly off and potentially damage the fish or leave a fly in its mouth… or go after the fish and try to pull it out of cover. Dave hates leaving flies in fish and loves to take it on until the fish breaks the tippet or the fish is either tailed or in the net. In the first fight, while all hope looks gone, Dave actually had the giant rainbow’s caudal peduncle in his hand but couldn’t fight the strong current to cradle its head in the other. On the second fight, that fish also tries to bolt into the bush for cover but luck shines a little brighter this go around. Fishing and fighting like this isn’t for everyone. You choose to take it on and go all in, or you simply don’t fish these streams.”